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Turning point

Holland Patent had quickly driven from its 45-yard line to SV’s 20 following a turnover and faced third-and-11 on the second play of the second quarter.

Enter linebacker Billy Sheridan, who appeared to read the intended receiver’s route beautifully and intercepted Nick Herringshaw’s pass to give SV possession at its 28 trailing by 7-6.

About 10 ½ minutes later, the Sabers’ advantage was 28-7.

Key Plays

Susquehanna Valley’s go-ahead score came when the ball was snapped 1:57 into the second quarter following a Sabers timeout. Quarterback Jarred Freije faked a handoff and took off inside-left, zipped into space and outraced the defense to complete a 63-yard TD rush for a 12-7 advantage.

On HP’s next possession, Sheridan blew up a second-and-5 play by chasing down De’Vante Rehm and felling him for a 3-yard loss. Two plays later, the Golden Knights punted and SV took over at its 48. Kyle Leonard began a six-rush drive and Sheridan ended it by scooting through room aplenty inside and scoring from 20 yards midway into the quarter. Josh Rudock’s two-point run made it 20-7.

Another three-and-out by Section 3’s champions from Oneida County left SV the ball at its 23 with 3:34 to play in the half.

Ed Lavin sprinted 46 yards on second down to HP’s 25. Five plays later Leonard carried in from the 2 and, thanks largely to marvelous offensive-line play by SV, the difference was 28-7 midway through.

As if the Sabers weren’t safe, they went three plays for a score to open the third period_ a 20-yard rush by Lavin with 15 penalty yards tacked on, a 12-yarder by Leonard and Lavin’s 17-yarder for points on which he took a toss right and cut craftily to the middle.

SV’s Dan Matthews said …

Of nasty weather conditions: “I think it helped a lot. We like to hit hard and everything hurts a lot more in the cold. We knew coming in they weren’t physical and we just tried to hit them hard all game. It worked out well.

“It was terrible. The wind affected everybody’s offense. We knew they like to pass and I could tell it was bothering them all game. It was definitely in our favor.”

Buy Photo

Another win for SV's Sabers.(Photo: Kevin Stevens / Staff Photo)

The Sabers’ Jarred Freije said …

Of his 63-yard TD: “The line did a great job, I had a perfect hole through the middle. I just hit it hard. Just do them proud, they do work for me so I’ve got to give it back for them.”

And putting up 43 points despite 1-for-2 passing for 5 yards? “We are both run and pass. And we’re very versatile, we have a lot of players who can do a lot of things.”

And speaking of SV’s defense as a whole: “I think the cold brought out some meanness in us all. We were able to fly around and that kept us going, kept us warm, kept us moving.”